Bromley Council is proposing to make a series of improvements on Crofton Road between Ormonde Avenue and Orpington Station in order to make it a more attractive route to walk and cycle along and to use the bus. This scheme is particularly important becauseCrofton Road, along with most of the borough has seen increasing traffic volume over recent years. Increasing levels of walking and cycling and bus use, through the provision of the appropriate infrastructure, can contribute to reducing/limiting further increases in congestion on the borough’s roads, alongside delivering other health and environmental benefits.
Residents have commented that one of the limitations for them considering walking or cycling for short journeys is the current infrastructure with the current traffic conditions. Residents have also commented that for the same reasons they are unwilling to allow their children to make that choice either.
The project is therefore intended to allow residents to have a genuine choice of transport options andthrough the provision of improved infrastructure encourage them to make local trips to the station schools and shops on foot, by bike or by bus. The improvements to planting and extra trees will increase the attractiveness of the area for all.
Key elements
- new and widened footways between Ormonde Avenue and Crofton Lane
- the provision of physically segregated with flow cycle lanes between Crofton Lane and Orpington Station
- new zebra crossings and refuges to give more and safer opportunities to cross with a particular emphasis on walking to school
- enhancements to the local greenery along the route through the planting of a number of additional trees and low level vegetation
Consultation
Two public exhibitions were held last year to inform local residents and other interested parties about the scheme, as follows;
- Wednesday 25 September 2019 at Orpington railway station
- Thursday 26 September 2019 at St. Paul’s Church Hall, in Crofton Road
Residents were able to make their views known at the two exhibitions by completing paper forms, by e-mailing the council or by completing web forms.
The consultation closed on Thursday 10 October 2019 and we thank all those who contributed.
Consultation report
All the comments received were assessed and are contained in the consultation report
Download Crofton Road improvement scheme consultation report.
Frequently asked questions
I’ve heard that 21,000 cyclists use this route every day, is that correct?
The 21k figure is the potential total number of cycleable trips to Orpington town centre so could be realised in the longer term including a number of other routes into the town
Why are you doing this on Crofton Road
Crofton Road has been identified as a road with a potentially high volume of switchable short trips from car to cycling and is within the top 5-10% of connectors for potential cycling trips in London.
Why is the money not being spent on other things like resurfacing roads and footways?
The money allocated for this project by Transport for London is ring fenced to be spent on projects such as this and cannot be spent, for example, on highway maintenance, although some resurfacing will be included as part of the scheme. This is not unique to local authorities as many businesses operate their different budgets in a similar way
No one cycles here so why spend this money on cycling?
This scheme is intended to make walking and cycling a realistic new choice for residents and visitor’s short journeys rather than support confident long distance cyclists. There are already a number of local residents who cycle under the current conditions but it is important to emphasise that the project isn’t just about cycling and will offer significant benefits for pedestrians and bus users, too. Both walking, cycling and bus use offer potential to switch many short trips from cars, helping reduce congestion at peak times, improve personal health and air quality.
I’m concerned about the safety of all this. Have you undertaken a risk assessment?
As part of the design process the scheme has been subject to a two-stage road safety audit process and two more audits will follow once the scheme is completed.
Will it be very disruptive to build?
There is likely to be some disruption during construction but we will seek to minimise this and access to driveways will be maintained. Every effort has been made to develop a high quality design that can be built minimising time on site.
Will the scheme result in additional queues and congestion causing pollution?
There is no evidence to support this as the road is a single lane in each direction so no traffic lanes are being removed. Effectively, the scheme will result in the inside margin of the carriageway in each direction, the area not typically used by vehicular traffic, being formalised as a cycle lane. With regards to queues causing pollution, switching mode more than outweighs any detrimental effect of queues impacting on air quality, anyway, and because many modern vehicles now switch off automatically when stationary, this risk is further reduced.